Windows 10: Importing, Creating, And Sharing Themes

One of the must underused but nice customization features of Windows is the ability to create so-called “themes”. Themes are collections of wallpapers that automatically change every few minutes without you having to do anything. This tip will explain how you can use, create and download themes for Windows 10.

To get started, go to settings by clicking the Windows icon in the left corner of your screen and then open Settings:

A new window should open, click the Personalization button:

Now open the “Themes” tab on the left side of your screen and click Theme Settings:

You should now see the Personalization tab open. This is where you will activate, edit, and create your own themes. By default, you should see some themes Windows has already installed for you like the standard background and a few high contrast themes for people who have difficulties reading on-screen text. To activate a different theme, just click one and watch your background change.

Themes will not only affect your background. You can also select a screensaver, a sound scheme, and a color. The color changes some of the overall colors from Windows, screensavers are interesting screens that pop up after you were inactive for a little while and sound schemes change the overall sounds of Windows. While you can easily change your screensaver and color, the sound schemes are a more complicated topic for another tutorial.

There are two ways of getting more themes: You can import them from the internet, or create some yourself. Creating your own theme is a little bit more advanced but brings a greater level of customization while importing themes is easier but binds you to what other people have made. I will start with explaining how to import themes from other people.

First, click on the text that says Get more themes online:

This should open a new browser window with the official Microsoft website. Here you can browse numerous categories and download any theme you want. To do this, just click the Download text beneath a subject that you like and save it to a location you can easily remember:

Now open the folder you saved the file in in the File Explorer (to open the file explorer, click the Windows icon in the left corner of your screen and open File Explorer) and open it by double-clicking on it:

The “Personalization” window will open again and your new theme will automatically be selected. That’s it! You can still edit components of this theme like the color and the screensaver if you prefer something else.

Of course, it’s nice to download someone else’s theme, but the real fun begins when you create your own!